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Ottawa MPP wants year-round daylight time in Ontario

Author of the article:

Trevor Oattes

Publishing date:

April 12, 2019 • 2 minute read

The MPP for Orleans has introduced a bill that would see the province permanently adopt daylight time, leaving Ontarians with an extra hour of sunlight in the evening year-round.Photo by Darren Makowichuk/ Postmedia Network

The MPP for Orleans has introduced a bill that would see the province permanently adopt daylight time, leaving Ontarians with an extra hour of sunlight in the evening year-round.

The private member’s bill put forth by MPP Marie-France Lalonde would discard the twice-annual time changes most Ontarians are used to, making March 2020 the final time that clocks would change in the province.

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This would mean that, even during the short days of the winter months, there would still be some sunlight when most people leave work: on the shortest day of the year, there would still be sunlight until shortly before 5:30 p.m.

“I think people are tired or sick of watching the sunset while they are still at work,” said Lalonde. “I also understand, from talking with neighbours and friends over the years, that everybody questions why we’re still doing this.”

According to Lalonde, abolishing the time change and having brighter winter evenings have a number of benefits. Outdoor crime declines during daylight time, and people’s mood and motivation generally improve with more sunlight. Another potential benefit would be safer roads, as time change-induced sleep deprivation has statistically increased car accidents.

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“Sadly, people have lost their lives — and I know people will argue, ‘Well, people lose their lives every day on the road’ — but there is an increase during these time changes,” said Lalonde.

Daylight time was first implemented in Canada by the city of Port Arthur — part of present-day Thunder Bay — in 1908, well before it became standard practice throughout the rest of the world. Since then, all of Canada’s provinces and territories have enacted daylight time, though Saskatchewan technically observes it year-round without the need to change clocks. There are certain areas throughout the country, including three communities in Ontario, where daylight time is not observed at all.

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Despite the pros, Lalonde admits there may be complications for those who have to cross a border for work. If the province jettisoned the time change, it would lead to a serious headache for Ontario residents working in Quebec, for example, and vice versa. Because of this, Lalonde hopes to see politicians in Quebec take up a similar conversation.

“Certainly from a practicality standpoint there will be a debate between our two jurisdictions,” said Lalonde. “But again, I’m confident that once we start looking at the benefits we’ll see that there is no reason to keep this practice in place. Hopefully the parliamentarians in the Quebec legislature will consider introducing the same bill so that we can work together.”